Pick-Your-Own Thornless Blackberries all July

   Thornless blackberries are still ripening, now until about Aug. 1, but many customers came to pick them last evening and this morning, so it will be a few days before more berries are ripe for picking.  Many people usually come to pick thornless blackberries in the week before July 4th, so there are often more berries to pick from July 5 to July 25.

Some 'Natchez' thornless blackberries are ripe now, and many more are growing on both 'Natchez' and 'Apache' plants.

   These are large berries, on plants with NO thorns or chiggers, and easy and fast to pick.  This summer is our 26th and final year of growing pick-your-own thornless blackberries, so if you want to pick them here, come this year.

   Our Summer Open Hours started June 15 and run until Aug. 4 this year, as shown in the sidebar at left.  In summer, we're open Mon. to Sat. 7:30 a.m.to 12 noon and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., and Sundays 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. only.  We're closed Sun. mornings for church services (as we are year-round), and closed for blackberry picking from 12 noon to 7 p.m. each day in summer due to high heat.  You don't need an appointment to pick blackberries, but if you're driving a distance you might want to call a day or two ahead to ask how many berries are ripe.

   We'll be open our usual morning hours on Sat. July 4th, but closed that evening for the holiday. 

   Thornless blackberries are sold pick-your-own only, for $4.93 per quart + sales tax.  We provide quart containers, and have customers fill them level-full.  You'll bring the berries home in the quarts, set on cardboard trays, and we appreciate it if you bring us back the empty quarts and cardboard trays on your next visit to Reid Orchards.

   Some customers bring their own trays (metal, cardboard or plastic) to set the berry quarts on, and we appreciate that very much!  Do NOT bring bowls to dump the berries into, as that could bruise them, and we want the berries to stay in the quarts they're picked into until you get them home and use them.

   We have a reduced peach crop this year, and peaches have started ripening earlier than usual.  We have no hired workers this year, so I'm harvesting all the peaches myself, in early afternoons when we're closed for blackberry picking.  I store the harvested peaches in our sales building refrigerator, and sell them that evening or the next morning.  Amounts are very limited, so I'm only posting this here.  Please do NOT post about this on social media.

I'm now harvesting 'Intrepid' peaches, and have limited amounts for sale, more #2's with surface cracks (left box) than #1's (right box).

   I'm now harvesting 'Intrepid' peaches, my favorite variety for flavor.  'Intrepid' is very juicy, and is great for fresh eating, freezing and jam-making, but not for cooking or canning.  Most of these peaches are #2's due to skin cracking from excess rainfall.  #1 peaches with no damage sell for $1.58 per pound + sales tax, and #2 peaches sell for $1.28 per pound + sales tax.

   More peach varieties will ripen until about Aug. 10.  Each variety ripens over a 10 to 14 day period, so we have a succession of peach varieties ripening.  But again, peaches are very limited this year, so if you want some, phone 620-597-2450 a day or two ahead, and leave a message on our answering machine with your name, day and time you'll come, and what you want to buy.  You must state your phone number so I can call you back.

   We still have many harvested #1 and #2 'Gold Rush' apples for sale, and many #2 'Enterprise' apples.  We'll have harvested apples for sale until late July or so.

   Harvested apples sell for $1.48 per pound + sales tax for #1 fruit with no damage.  I sort and pack apples into bags in boxes that I weigh to 20 pounds, so if you get a 20-pound box of #1 apples you save $1.00.  We also have some nice #2 fruit, with some surface scarring but no internal damage, that sells for just $1.18 per pound + sales tax.

   Until about July 25, we still have some harvested, cracked pecans for sale.  Once we sell out, we won't have more pecans until the new crop starts in mid-Nov., so get some soon if you'll want them before Nov. 15.  These pecan selections, from my husband Bill's pecan breeding program, have large nuts, thin shells and great taste, and I give taste samples.

   We sell cracked pecans in 4-pound bags, which are over 75% pecan kernels and under 25% shell fragments.  Each bag has the equivalent of 6 pounds of in-shell pecans, and when you pick out the kernels, you get 3 pounds or more of nutmeats.  Each bag costs $19.70 + sales tax.

   As always, we take cash or checks for payment, but NO credit cards or debit cards, and no phone "apps".  We don't use a smart phone, and have no phone line to the sales building.  So please bring your checkbook or enough cash to cover the amount of fruit and/or pecans you want to buy.  Thanks.